Vol. 536 No. 1
6 Mr. Higgins (Mayo) asked the Minister for Public Enterprise the status of the inquiry into the Aer Lingus plane crash in Britain which subsequently gave rise to the sacking of the pilot (details supplied) from his post; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13254/01]
The Deputy's question is interesting and timely. I am pleased to inform him that at a meeting in my Department last week agreement was reached with the family of the late pilot captain and their legal advisers on the format, timescale, etc., of a structured review of the case. The review is expected to commence early next month.
It was also agreed that it was necessary to consult the proposed senior counsel who would carry out the review as to the format, timescale, etc., before those matters would be finalised. Broadly speaking, however, the review will address two principal questions:
(a) Was it reasonable for the original court of inquiry in 1953 on the evidence before it to conclude as a matter of probability that fuel mismanagement had been the cause of the crash?
(b) Is there any evidence now available that was not available to the court of inquiry which might have led it to reach a different conclusion?
It is expected that the review will be completed within three months. Officials from the Department and the Attorney General's office met last Friday with the daughters of the late Captain Hanley, Nuala Hanley-Pearse, Patricia Hanley and Aoife Hanley, and their legal advisers.
(Mayo): I thank the Minister for taking this initiative and establishing a further inquiry to investigate the full facts. We all must admire the tenacity of Captain T. J. Hanley's two daughters who, through thick and thin, dogmatically asserted that their father's side of the story was not fully comprehended by the original inquiry and that a grave injustice was done by virtue of his reputation being ruined. He was barred from flying for the rest of his life and spent 20 years in exile in Honolulu as a flight dispatcher. Unfortunately, he died before it was agreed that this further investigation, which will I hope clear his name, would be undertaken.
With regard to the terms of reference of the inquiry, is it proposed to call many of the key witnesses not called to the original inquiry, for example, the landowner, who, strangely, was not called to give evidence or even to make a statement and others who testified to newspapers, not in court or at the inquiry, that they saw a considerable amount of fuel spewing from the starboard side of the aircraft? Will everybody who knows anything about this accident be called? Will the inquiry be that comprehensive?
It was agreed at the meeting with the Hanley sisters that senior counsel would examine the format, timescale and the contents before those matters were finalised. There was broad agreement between the officials of the Department and the Attorney General's office and the Hanley sisters on two main questions, which I outlined. I admire the tenacity of the Hanley sisters who have written to Ministers of all persuasions regarding this inquiry and the Tuskar Rock investigation. We do not know if injustices were committed, but we will never receive the correct answers because as time passes it is difficult to reconstruct events which one is examining them in present conditions as distinct from the conditions that prevailed at the time, which often alters their perception. I admire the tenacity of the sisters because they have suffered a great deal through their appreciation of what happened to their late father.
(Mayo): Will the Minister agree to publish the final report when it becomes available, given that it will involve a significant public safety issue? Is it a coincidence that the same group of investigators were involved in both the Tuskar Rock investigation and the Captain Hanley inquiry?
The inquiry involving Captain Hanley took place in 1953 while the Tuskar Rock investigation was conducted in 1967.
(Mayo): Some officials were involved in both investigations.
Yes, and there was a number of years between them. The report will first be given to the Hanley sisters and then be made public.
